Residential Commons Marks a Decade of Community Building

This academic year marks the 10th anniversary of Ciccone Commons, the first Residential Commons established at Colgate University. Since its launch in 2015, the program has grown to four communities - Brown, Ciccone, Dart Colegrove, and Hancock - that gather students based on their first-year seminars (FSEM) to extend learning beyond the classroom.

With each class year having more than 800 students, the Commons can make a large class feel more familiar. The Residential Commons combines academics and social life from day one: linking the FSEM to where students live creates their first intellectual community on campus. The FSEM-Commons relationship enriches the FSEM experience, nurtures discussions, and encourages learning both inside and outside of the classroom.

"So often students pursue the paths they are drawn to through what they are reading, discussing, and engaging with in class - but also through the conversations they have in the places they live," says Abby Palko, the inaugural director of the Residential Commons. The Residential Commons provide a space for students to explore who they are and who they want to become.

Commons programming is designed to help students feel more grounded both socially and academically, with an annual induction for new students, book discussions, musical performances, cooking sessions, and a passion project series.

The Commons Cup is a popular annual competition where residents earn points for their Commons by participating in events including trivia nights, faculty-led discussions, off-campus trips to the theater and museums, and campuswide initiatives such as the MLK Day of Service. At the end of the academic year, the Commons with the most points wins the cup, and students also earn recognition for their individual achievements.

Living and Learning Workshops - part of the Core Curriculum and supported by the Commons - are a required five-part series helping first-year students navigate college life and shape their personal and academic paths. Through weekly sessions with their fellow Commons members, students explore strategies for academic success, their identity as learners, strategies for challenging conversations, and community building.

Helen Clothier, a first-year student, notes that "being in Ciccone Commons has helped me meet people who not only live near me, but also who share similar intellectual ideas. I've created very strong bonds with the people that share my Commons with me."

The University also looks to students to help lead within the Residential Commons. Community leaders (CLs) are live-in student staff members who develop their residential communities while supporting peers with challenges in residential living and campus life. Adam Levine '27 has found personal benefits in serving as a CL while also helping others - and having some fun along the way.

"It's helped me hone communication skills," he said. "The Commons program has given me the opportunity, as a CL, to connect with my residents through Jeopardy games. Being able to design events based on my own interests has made community building both natural and enjoyable."

Student involvement extends beyond traditional programming. The Tempestry Project, launched this fall, is a collaboration between the Residential Commons; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; University Museums; environmental studies; geography; and women's, gender, and sexuality studies. The project invites community members to translate 33 years of Colgate's climate data into crocheted panels. The Commons is hosting the creation portion of the project, coordinating distribution of kits and holding weekly workshops where community members receive crocheting lessons and work on their panels together. Works will be displayed during Arts, Creativity, and Innovation Weekend 2026 in the Longyear Museum of Anthropology.

In the future, Palko envisions that the "Commons will continue to reflect on changing student needs. The residential experience can be a support and guide for building community away from the classroom and helping undergraduates navigate into adulthood."